28 MY ARCTIC JOURNAL 



On Saturday a bear with two cubs was seen on the ice 

 ahead of us, and immediately every man was over the side of 

 the vessel makini^ for the animals. The mother, with a tender 

 affection for her young, guided an immediate retreat, herself 

 taking the rear, and alternately inciting the one cub and 

 then the other to more rapid movement. Our boys were 

 wholly unacquainted with the art of rapid traveling on the 

 rough and hummocky ice, and before long the race was ad- 

 mitted to be a very unequal one ; they were all quickly 

 distanced. One of the men, in the excitement of the moment, 

 joined in the chase without his gun, and, even without this 

 implement, when he returned to the " Kite " he was so out of 

 breath that he had to be hauled up the sides of the vessel like 

 a dead seal. He lay sprawling and breathless on the deck 

 for at least five minutes, much to the merriment of the crew 

 and the more fortunate members of the party. A round 

 weight of over two hundred pounds was responsible for his 

 discomfiture. Monday morning about two o'clock the fog 

 suddenly lifted, and we found ourselves almost upon the land. 

 The visible shore extended from Cape York to Wolstenholme 

 Island, and we could clearly distinguish Capes Dudley Diggs 

 and Atholl. I held a looking-glass over the open skylight in 

 such a way that Mr. Peary could see something of the outline 

 of the coast. Poor fellow! he wanted to go on deck so badly, 

 thinking that if he were strapped to a board he could be 

 moved in safety, but the doctor persuaded him to give up the 

 thought. As the doctors have all agreed that in six months 



